Direxion is taking steps to launch four additional U.S.-linked leveraged ETFs, including S&P 500-linked products that aim to cut off ProShares' move into the market for 300 percent leveraged funds.

The funds, currently in registration with the SEC, are:

• Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3x Shares
• Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares
• Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3x Shares
• Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x Shares

The funds seek to deliver 300 percent and -300 percent of the daily return of their benchmark indexes. As with all daily rebalanced ETFs, holding on to them longer than one trading day could lead to a deviation from a simple multiple of the benchmark performance.

The more interesting of the filings is for the S&P 500 funds. Earlier this year, ProShares—a company that built its business offering 200 percent leveraged and inverse funds—launched 300 percent leveraged funds tied to the S&P 500, in what appeared to be a move to cut off some of the growth of Direxion.

Those funds have been successful, gathering $250 million between the pair. At launch, ProShares emphasized that their funds were the first to provide 300 percent exposure to the broadly followed S&P 500 Index. It appears that Direxion wants to offer competitive products in the space.

Management fees for all four new Direxion ETFs are pegged at 75 basis points.

You can read the prospectus here.